JOHN, ST, the apostle, or the evangelist, was the brother of St James the Great, and the son of Zebedee. He quitted the business of fishing to follow Jesus, and
was his beloved disciple. He was witness to the actions and miracles of his Master; was present at his transfiguration on Mount Tabor; and was with him in the garden of olives. He was the only apostle who followed him to the cross; and to him Jesus left the care of his mother. He was also the first apostle who knew him again after his resurrection. He preached the faith in Asia; and principally resided at Ephesus, where he maintained the mother of our Lord. He is said to have founded the churches of Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. He is also said to have preached the gospel among the Parthians, and to have addressed his first epistle to that people. It is related, that, when at Rome, the emperor Domitian caused him to be thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, when he came out unhurt; on which he was banished to the isle of Patmos, where he wrote his Apocalypse. After the death of Domitian he returned to Ephesus, where he composed his Gospel, about the year 96; and died there, in the reign of Trajan, about the year 100, aged 94.
Gospel of St JOHN, a canonical book of the New Testament, containing a recital of the life, actions, doctrine, and death, of our Saviour Jesus Christ, written by St John the apostle and evangelist.
St John wrote his Gospel at Ephesus, after his return from the isle of Patmos, at the desire of the Christians of Asia. St Jerome says he would not undertake it, but on condition that they should appoint a public fast, to implore the assistance of God; and, that the fast being ended, St John, filled with the Holy Ghost, broke out into these words: "In the beginning was the Word," &c. The ancients assign two reasons for this undertaking: the first is, because, in the other three Gospels, there was wanting the history of the beginning of Jesus Christ's preaching till the imprisonment of John the Baptist, which therefore he applied himself particularly to relate. The second reason was, in order to remove the errors of the Cerinthians, Ebionites, and other sects. But Mr Lampe and Dr Lardner have urged several reasons to show that St John did not write against Corinthus or any other heretics in his Gospel.
Revelation of St JOHN. See APOCALYPSE.
JOHN of Salisbury, bishop of Chartres in France, was born at Salisbury in Wiltshire, in the beginning of the 12th century. Where he imbibed the rudiments of his education is unknown: but we learn that in the year 1136, being then a youth, he was sent to Paris, where he studied under several eminent professors, and acquired considerable fame for his application and proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, divinity, and particularly in the learned languages. Thence he travelled to Italy: and, during his residence at Rome was in high favour with Pope Eugenius III. and his successor Adrian IV. After his return to England, he became the intimate friend and companion of the famous Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, whom he attended in his exile, and is said to have been present when that haughty prelate was murdered in his cathedral. What preferment he had in the church during this time does not appear; but in 1176 he was promoted by King Henry II. to the bishopric of Chartres in France, where he died in 1182. This John of Salisbury was really a phenomenon. He was one of the first
restorers of the Greek and Latin languages in Europe; a classical scholar, a philosopher, a learned divine, and an elegant Latin poet. He wrote several books; the principal of which are, his Life of St Thomas of Canterbury, a collection of letters, and Polyeraticon.